All posts by Omkar Dutta

Omkar Dutta is a Mobile Enthusiast from Mumbai, India. He loves to check out latest software, mobile phones and web services. Currently, he writes for this awesome blog as well as Fone Arena. You can follow him on Twitter @0mkarr

HTC recently announced the HTC Salsa smartphone at the Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona. This handset comes with a dedicated Facebook button and it allows you to upload photos or update your status, within a single click. This handset runs on the Android 2.4 (Gingerbread) operating system. It features a 3.4 inch touchscreen display, 600 MHz processor, 5 megapixel camera and more. HTC Salsa allows you to stay in touch with your friends using Facebook Chat and Messages on your phone. Check out the complete specs below.

HTC has always understood that different people want different things and the new HTC ChaCha and Salsa offer special new ways to experience Facebook on a mobile device,said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. With more than 500 million active users worldwide, Facebook has become synonymous with the social web and we wanted to create the ultimate socially connected phones with mass market appeal.

HTC Salsa Specifications:

3.4 inch touchscreen display

480 x 320 pixels resolution

600 MHz processor

Android 2.4 (Gingerbread) operating system

HTC Sense

5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash

VGA front camera

512 MB ROM

512 MB RAM

Internal GPS Antenna

G-Sensor

Digital compass

Proximity Sensor

Bluetooth 3.0 with FTP/OPP

Wi-Fi connectivity

3.5mm headset jack

micro-USB

microSD card slot

Up to 540 mins talk-time

Up to 530 hours stand-by time

1520 mAh battery

This handset measures 109.1 x 58.9 x 12.3 mm and weighs 120 grams. The price of this handset is not announced yet. HTC ChaCha will be available to customers globally from Q2 of 2011.

HTC recently announced the HTC ChaCha QWERTY phone with dedicated Facebook button. This handset runs on the Android 2.4 (Gingerbread) operating system. It comes with a 2.6 inch touchscreen display, 600 MHz processor, 5 megapixel camera and more. HTC ChaCha allows you to update your status, upload a photo, share a website or check in’ to a location, with a single press of the button. Check out the complete specs, after the break.

We have worked closely with HTC for several years on bringing Facebook to their devices and HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa are the next stage,said Henri Moissinac, Head of Mobile Business for Facebook. HTC has brought Facebook to these two new devices in an innovative way enabling people to connect and share easily whenever they want, wherever they are.

HTC ChaCha Specifications:

2.6 inch touchscreen display

480 x 320 pixels resolution

600 MHz processor

Android 2.4 (Gingerbread) operating system

HTC Sense

5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash

VGA front camera

512 MB ROM

512 MB RAM

Internal GPS Antenna

G-Sensor

Digital compass

Proximity Sensor

Bluetooth 3.0 with FTP/OPP

Wi-Fi connectivity

3.5mm headset jack

micro-USB

microSD card slot

Up to 450 mins talk-time

Up to 660 hours stand-by time

1250 mAh battery

This handset measures 114.4 x 64.6 x 10.7 mm and weighs 120 grams. The price of this handset is not announced yet. HTC ChaCha will be available to customers globally from Q2 of 2011.

Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry. Some of the top mobile phone manufacturers like HTC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, etc, are expected to launch a wide range of next-gen smartphones and tablets this year. Mobile World Congress 2011 will be conducted at Barcelona, Spain, between February 14 to February 17. This year, Samsung is expected to launch the successor of its popular Galaxy S smartphone as well as the Galaxy Tab 2 with 10.1 inch display. Sony Ericsson will launch its much awaited Playstation phone, the Xperia Play. HTC, Samsung, LG and other top companies are expected to launch Android Gingerbread and Windows Phone 7 smartphones as well as Android Honeycomb powered tablets. Check out the complete event schedule of MWC 2011, after the break.

Nokia finally announced its strategic partnership with Microsoft, that would use their strengths and expertise to create a new global mobile ecosystem. Nokia also shocked everyone by announcing that, Windows Phone would be their “primary software platform”. It does not mean that Symbian and Meego are dead, since Nokia is expecting to sell more than 150 million Symbian devices in the coming years. Nokia also confirmed that the Meego based smartphone would be launched, later this year. Nokia is also planning to manufacture Windows and Meego based tablets. According to the deal,

Nokia would adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.

Nokia would help drive the future of Windows Phone. Nokia would contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.

Nokia and Microsoft would closely collaborate on joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.

Bing would power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities. Microsoft adCenter would provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services.

Nokia Maps would be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services. For example, Maps would be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and adCenter advertising platform to form a unique local search and advertising experience

Microsoft development tools would be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach.

Nokia’s content and application store would be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.

“Today, developers, operators and consumers want compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great experience,” Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said at a joint news conference in London. “Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race.”

“I am excited about this partnership with Nokia,” said Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft CEO. “Ecosystems thrive when fueled by speed, innovation and scale. The partnership announced today provides incredible scale, vast expertise in hardware and software innovation and a proven ability to execute.”

Nokia also announced the extensive operator billing agreements, which will allow the consumers to easily purchase the Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low. The Nokia-Microsoft ecosystem targets to deliver differentiated and innovative product to the consumers.

Nokia is expected to launch the Meego based Nokia N9 smartphone at the end of this year. According to the rumors, Nokia N9 would be the first and the last Meego powered smartphone to be manufactured by Nokia. Windows Phone 7 was launched back in October and the sales are not as per the expectations. Do you think Nokia made the right move by joining hands with Microsoft? Or Nokia should have selected Android as its primary operating system? Let us know your interesting views in the comments below.

Nokia recently released a new firmware update for its popular music phone, the Nokia X6. The latest version is numbered 31.0.004 and it comes with minor fixes and improvements. You can easily download this firmware update from Nokia Software Update or via. Over-The-Air (OTA). Check out the complete changelog after the break.

Changelog:

Updated Maps

Performance improvements

Usability improvements

It is advised to backup all you data before updating the device, just to make sure that no important files are lost during the installation. If you find some other changes or improvements in this firmware update or if you have some screenshots of this firmware update, please share with us in the comments section below.

Videocon Mobiles recently launched its second Android phone in India, the Videocon V7400. This handset is powered by the old Android 2.1 (Eclair) operating system. The Videocon V7400 is a re-branded version of the Huawei U8100, which was unveiled last year at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010 in Barcelona. Check out the complete specs after the break.

Videocon V7400 is available in 2 different colors – Black and Silver. This handset measures 107.5 mm x 57 mm x 13.8 mm and weighs just 104 gms. Videocon V7400 allows you to access more than 100,000 apps from the Android Market. You can purchase this handset for 12,995. This handset is currently up for pre-order in India. If you are planning to buy this budget smartphone, just head over to this page.

Videocon offers unlimited calling to Videocon numbers and 30 free local minutes to any network, everyday for 1 year, with the purchase of this handset.

We have a good news for the T-Mobile customers in the US. T-Mobile is currently offering the recently launched Motorola Cliq2 smartphone for free on contract until February 9th. This handset was announced last month at the CES 2011 in Las Vegas. This offer is available only if you purchase this handset from their online store. Check out the complete specs below.

This handset is originally available for $99.99 on contract, but you can get this handset for free with a 2 years service agreement until February 9 at 10 p.m. Pacific Time. The specs of this device is quite impressive in the mid-range smartphone category. If you are planning to buy this handset, head over to this page.

Last year, Nokia announced the Symbian^3 powered C6-01 smartphone at the Nokia World 2010 in London. This handset have been finally launched in India. The original C6 features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Symbian S60v5 OS, 5 megapixel camera, while the new C6-01 comes with a 3.2 inch AMOLED screen, Symbian^3 OS, 8 megapixel camera with HD (720p) video recording and so on. The handset is completely eco-friendly and its body is made up of recycled materials.

This handset comes is two different colors – Black and Silver Gray. Nokia C6-01 comes with a price tag of Rs.18,229. You can easily purchase this handset from your nearest retailer or at the Nokia Priority stores.

Kyocera Communications recently announced the world’s first dual-touchscreen Android smartphone, the Kyocera Echo. This handset runs on the Android 2.2 operating system and it will be exclusively available on the airwaves of Sprint in the US. Kyocera Echo features two high-resolution 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen displays connected by the pivot hingefeature, that enables the two displays to operate independently.

For years Kyocera has provided handsets to Sprint’s Prepaid Group and MVNOs, as well as to Sprint under the Sanyo brand,said Eiichi Toriyama, president of Kyocera Communications Inc. We value greatly our relationship with Sprint and we are thrilled that they have chosen Echo as the standout product with which to reintroduce its customers to the Kyocera brand. With Kyocera Echo, we are proud to give Sprint an iconic, industry-changing device that delivers an entirely new experience for smartphone users.

Kyocera Echo comes with the VueQue app, which allows you to watch a YouTube video in one display, while browsing, queuing and buffering additional YouTube videos on the other. This handset measures 115.0 x 56.5 x 17.2mm and weighs 193g. Kyocera Echo comes with a price tag of $199.99 after a $100 mail rebate and a two years service agreement. This handset will be available for purchase from this spring.

The Android powered Dell Venue is finally available for purchase in the US. This handset is quite similar to the popular Dell Venue Pro, except the fact that, it runs on Android 2.2 OS instead of the Windows Phone 7 and it does not feature a physical QWERTY keyboard. Dell Venue comes with a 4.1 inch AM-OLED display with curved Corning Gorilla Glass, 1GHz processor and so on.This handset is exclusively available for purchase at Dell.com.

Dell Venue allows you to access more than 200,000 apps from the Android Market. It also comes with the pre-loaded Dell Stage user interface which makes this handset perfect for entertainment where on-the-go. The unlocked version of Dell Venue is currently available at Dell.com for $499.99. This handset will also be available on AT&T or T-Mobile from February 19th. If you are planning to buy this handset, head over to this page.